The Story of Toronto by G.P. Det. Glazebrook (review)

REVIEWS 195 become enmeshed in theAmerican;in all cases Pearson playeda leadingpart in insisting onCanada's independence anddistinctiveness. Butfromfirstto lasthe believed, ashesaidinoneofhisaphorisms: 'International co-operation forpeace isthemostimportantaspect of nationalpolicy.' Manyoftheevents hewritesaboutaresofamiliarthatit isnotalways easy to isolateeither Pearson's or Canada'scontributions. This is not necessarily the author's fault, for Pearson wasan observer of acuteperceptions, and hiscomments evenonthefamiliararemarkedbyawit andcompassion thatputhisautobiography almost in a class byitself.His approach is largelychronological, his proseeffortless and lucid; it is onlytowardsthe end,indeed (a word Pearson liked), whenhe triesto catchup onseveral major topics in a summary fashion thatbreaks into hischronology, that the bookbecomes ratherunevenand episodic . The lastchapter,wherehepicksup theroutineof a deputyministership in Ottawa'sintroverted circles afterexcitingtimesin London,Washington, San Francisco, and elsewhere, issaved from beinga let-downby hiselevationto a portfolio- a promotionPearson would not have acceptedfrom King, but welcomed from St Laurent. He movedinto the politicalsphere(in considerable ignorance,as he freely records, of what it waslike) because of thewiderauthorityand opportunity it offered topursue hisgoals(andtherearediscreptancies between hisowndescriptionof hismotives, andKing's). Pearson at fifty-one,despite the achievements whichled to hisnomination assecretary generalof the United Nations(a post hewouldhavetaken) had enjoyedhisbrilliantcareerin the successive shelters of academe andthecivilservice. His eminence in thediplomatic world wassuch that it is difficultwhenreadinghisaccountto rememberhislater beleaguered years asprimeminister(a second elevation foreseen and favouredby thewily King). In amannerreminiscent ofMeighen's career, Pearson's risetotheheights wasoneofalmost unbroken success, andmajorsetbacks camelater;butPearson's skills in themanagement ofmenandtheappreciation of issues, andhistolerance ofthehumanfrailties thatgiveevenhighdiplomacy itspettyside, weretomake him the more resilient. Severalpassages in the booklook forward to later volumes,and the whole of this first volume leads a reader to do the same. It is clear that when Pearson chose a diplomatic career theworldlosta finewriter,andit waslucky.Despite thefrustrations andhorrors through whichMike threaded hiswayasa diplomat of themid-twentieth century, hisjoyous spiritleadsoneto feelthat theremay yetbehopeformankind. NORMAN WARD University o[ Saskatchewan The Storyo[ Toronto.c.1,.D•.T.C•.aZ•.•ROOK. Toronto,Universityof Toronto Press, x97 x.Pp.xii, 3xo,maps, illus.$x3.75. Thewritingofa one-volume survey of thehistory of a metropolitan centre,even oneasyoung asToronto,presents several formidable problems whichcaneasily 196 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW leadthewriterinto a varietyof pitfalls.Probablytheworstof thesedifficulties, whicharises in dealing withmostCanadian cities, isthelackof reliablestudies on specific questions andevents in theirhistory. Also,muchof thewritingthathas been doneon Canadian urban developmenthastendedto concentrateon the nineteenth centuryor earlier.Thus,asthevolumeof materialon theshelves of the municipalarchives becomes increasingly bulky,the secondary studies virtuallygiveup . With sucha lackof previous analysis available, all toooften thehistorian preparingan overallsynthesis maybefoundskimming evermore rapidlyoverhissubject asheapproaches moderntimes. Thisisoneof thebasic problems with BruceWest's overview, Toronto,the onlyotherrecentgeneral history of thecity. A second difficulty facingthehistorian isthat of separating thehistory of the cityitselffromthatof itshinterland - in thiscase TorontowithoutOntario.The tendency ofprovincial history tocreepin anddominate municipal developments is all tooapparentin manystudies, suchasin the narrativechapters of Jesse E. Middleton'sI9• 3 The Municipality o[ Toronto: A History. In addition, thereis alwaysthe dangerof the writer inflictingthe readerwith frequent digressions on themes of personal interest, or lapsing into antiquariantwaddle, the latter beingonly too clearlydemonstrated by Edwin C. Gulllet'sToronto FromTradingPost toGreatCity,a centennial history ofTorontoin 1934. Professor Glazebrook hasavoided allthese weaknesses. He hasdoneanamazing amountofresearch himself anddoes notaccelerate hispaceasheapproaches the present; hedeclines towriteahistory ofOntarioin general andavoids thepitfalls of antiquarianism anddigression. Whatwehaveisa balanced history of thecity whichexamines social, economic, andbusiness developments aswell aspolitical evolution, placesTorontoin properrelationship to its hinterland,and records thevarious aspects of andreasons for itsgrowth.The storyis clearlypresented andwellorganized, though oneortwocomplex developments, such astheevolutionofthewaterfront , mighthavebeendiscussed in less abridged form,andthe concluding chapters tendto be ratherstatistical. In fact, it might be saidthat thisisthefirstsatisfactory history of thecitysince thesemi-centennial study of I884 byHenry$cadding andJohnCharlesDent. In anyattemptat what isreallya firstsynthesis, thereare boundto be some errorsin factandareas whicheachreaderwouldliketo seetreatedmorefully. For instance, morecouldhavebeensaidaboutsomeof the colourful political personalities, a themeJ.I. Cooper developed in hisrecent history of Montreal. What is more distressing are someproductionweaknesses which couldhave easily beenavoided. A moreamplebibliography wouldbehelpfulandtheindex isquiteincomplete andeven thenonlygives partialcoverage insome cases. (The reference toSpadina onpp.6o-1isnoted, butnotthose onpages 124or 198. ) One of the threemaps,that of I873 - whichis themostdifficultto find - has beenprintedinsidethe dust-jacket. Thus,it is not onlysubject to unduewear onthefirstreading,but alsoto mostlibraries' propensity to eitherdiscard dustjackets instantly orelse affixtheminseparably tothecover. Whatismost important isthatwiththeappearance of Glazebrook's study, following Cooper's history of Montreal, wenowhavegood surveys of thedevel- REVIEWS 197 opment...